The Willow Tree
by jennapetrova
Summary: "At first I didn't want to go in because I knew then that she wouldn't remember me. I hated that feeling. It was like falling over and scraping my knee on the ground. The wound would heal but the scar would stay, reminding me, that every time I looked at it, how painful it had been when I cut it." ONESHOT


I got this idea whilst my friend and I nearly set the school on fire today. Weird, right? I also have a couple song recs: **Rae Morris - Grow & John Nordstrom - Lost Along the Way**

* * *

The Willow Tree

* * *

I let go of his hand and he bent down so that we were equal height.

"Remember what I said?" he said to me.

And I said, "Uncle Theo, I am ten years old and I have a great memory. Of course I remember."

He nodded and he smiled. It was a small smile. I couldn't tell if he was happy or if he was sad. I never knew what Uncle Theo was feeling whenever we visited her.

So I stood still and I watched as he stood back up and sighed. "Alright," he said. Then he knocked on the door three times before he leaned in close. "Mione, it's me Theo."

And the voice behind the wooden door was muffled. But I could tell that it was hers. I could tell that she was sitting on a rocking chair, facing the big window with violets under her eyes; the way she always seemed to be whenever we visited. "Come in," it said and so Uncle Theo opened the door.

At first I didn't want to go in because I knew then that she wouldn't remember me. I hated that feeling. It was like falling over and scraping my knee on the ground. The wound would heal but the scar would stay, reminding me, that every time I looked at it, how painful it had been when I cut it. But then I remembered the stories she always tells me. And I like those stories. Uncle Theo says it's about my father but she says it's about a boy who she didn't mean to fall in love with. I don't know which to believe because I never really knew my father. And I didn't know what she meant by love. At first I thought it was being mean to the girl you liked just to get her attention but then she said it was much more than that. Now…I don't even know what that word means.

"He was bugging me to take him here, says he wants to hear one of your stories again," Uncle Theo said and I watched as she turned her head around.

I smiled at her.

"Hello Mrs Granger," I said. Just like Uncle Theo had told me.

She laughed and she gestured me over to her. "Hello Scorpius," she said taking me into her lap. I could feel the heat of the sun blazing through the glass. I quite liked it because she remembered who I was. "How was school?"

"Everyone made cards for their Mums for Mother's Day," I told her and she asked me if I had made one for my mum, which she thought was Uncle Theo's wife. I said yes even though I meant no. "Mum said I should make one for you too." And then Uncle Theo handed me the card I made her and she smiled from ear to ear.

She opened it. "_Dear Mum, thank you for being a great friend. I love you lots and lots, love Scorpius_," she read out loud before she hugged me tightly. "I'm not very good at being a mother compared to yours but thank you anyway."

"Yes you are. You let me sit on your lap and you tell me stories, sometimes I even fall asleep. That's what every mum does," I said and she laughed.

Uncle Theo messed up my hair and he laughed too. "I'll pick him up later," he said and I said ok and then he left.

"What story have you got for me today then?" I said, very excited and she pointed to a tree sitting outside on the field.

"You see that tree?" I nodded. "I remember studying under that tree before the War and I would see this shadow suck up the light that hit my books. Guess who that shadow belonged to?"

"Was it Mr Malfoy?" I asked.

"Yes, it was Mr Malfoy…"

* * *

_"Granger."_

_She looked up at the dim shadow blocking the light radiating down onto her skin and papers of her book. She wrinkled her nose as if to say 'get out of my way I'm trying to study'._

"_Draco? What are you doing out here?" She shut her book and watched as he sat down on the emerald grass beside her. "Shouldn't you be with Theo and Blaise bullying the first years?"_

"_I suppose yes," he said. "But the sun's out, might as well catch a tan whilst I can."_

_Hermione scoffed. "You hardly burn or tan, what makes you think you will now?"_

"_If the world stayed like this forever I think I might catch one." Hermione laughed and Draco asked her why she was but all she did was shrug her shoulders. "Catching a tan is the least of my worries anyway."_

_The atmosphere had gone from an eruption of laughter to a hymn of silence. Where not even the whispers of the wind could be audible. The mere mention of worries sent a doubting feeling crawling in both their veins. _

"_What happens to us after all this?" she asked._

_Draco shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know Granger. I think it's better for us if we don't think about that for now." He rose up from his position, brushing the dirt off his pants before he lent out a hand to her. "You coming then?"_

_Hermione's eyebrows furrowed and all she could think about was the way his veins peered from beneath his pale skin and the muscles in his arms that tensed as he shook it. She thought about the way his forehead wrinkled when he frowned and the way his argent-coloured orbs had patches of cobalt swirling around like the winds of Jupiter. _

"_Where are we going?" she asked._

"_To class of course."_

_She slid her hand into his and it fit perfectly. Their fingers intertwined like their souls and it felt right. In Hermione's eyes anyway. It felt blissful, like nothing could go wrong. She thought he would slowly slither his hand away from hers but he didn't. He squeezed it tight to let her know that he wasn't going anywhere. _

"_I see you haven't caught a tan yet," she said._

_Draco snorted. "I curse my family for having such pale skin." _

"_No, I think it's just you," Hermione ridiculed and when Draco looked up at her she giggled with content. "I was just teasing, Malfoy." _

"_I might have to _stupefy_ you for that." _

_Hermione cocked up an elegantly shaped eyebrow. "Oh really?" Draco nodded jokingly. "Go on then, I dare you." She let her fingers slip out of his as she teasingly ran away. "Come on, Draco!" _

_And without a second thought he ran straight towards her, scooping her legs as she fell forwards onto his back. She squealed, partly because that had been so unpredictable and partly because she felt their skin touch each other and she could feel it set on fire. Her blood vessels burned with passion as an electric current caressed every artery and every vein. She wanted to seize the feeling right there and then, but she knew she couldn't be selfish. Not with him. Not ever. _

_Draco carefully set her down on the field, her soft brown curls flattened as her head rested against it. He was leaning over her, his hand beside her ear as the other softly pushed her hair out of the way. _

_He said, "Who would've thought I would be in love with you?" _

"_Do you regret it?" she asked. _

_And he said, "Never."_

* * *

I wriggled in her arms as she rocked us back and forth. The day was starting to get dark and I knew that I would have to go home. But here, right in her arms, I felt like this was home.

"What happened when you lost him? Did he dump you?" I asked and she laughed. But it wasn't loud and it wasn't forced. It was soft, like someone had suddenly took her happiness. And I hated seeing her upset because I didn't know how to make her feel better. "Mu…Mrs Granger?"

She shook her head. "No he didn't dump me," she said.

"What happened to him?" I asked.

And she said, "The day the War ended, I thought everything was going to be okay. Sometimes people will conspire against you for turning alongside your beliefs, sometimes those people can be your family…"

* * *

_She held his hand tightly. The tan that Draco had once wanted to catch was now mud and blood. It wasn't the most pleasing thing but at least they had won. They had won, that's what Hermione kept saying as they walked alongside Ron. _

"_Bloody hell Mione your voice is giving me a headache!" the red-head teased and Hermione punched him in the arm lightly._

"_Shut up Ron we won for Merlin's sake!" she exclaimed._

_Hearing the sound of his bestfriend's voices, Harry swivelled around to meet with them. The elder wand sitting in between his thumb and index finger. He had won the War but the saddened look on his face said something different._

"_Harry what's wrong?" Hermione asked. _

_He said, "Nothing. I just keep thinking about what's going to happen from here."_

_Hermione rubbed his shoulder and rested her head against Draco's bruised shoulder. Although it hurt he didn't mind it because to him, Hermione Granger was worth every ounce of pain that he deserved._

"_What are you going to do with that wand?" Ron asked. _

_Harry looked at it for a brief moment, and he snapped it into two before he launched it down the abyss of nothing. He sighed afterwards, feeling uneasy with Draco's presence. _

"_Malfoy." _

"_Potter."_

_The two exchanged glances before eventually they shook hands, agreeing. Ron was reluctant but he did so anyway. For the sake of Hermione's friendship. _

"_Draco!" a voiced boomed from the opposite direction of Hogwarts. _

_There were two murky figures approaching. At first all four of them had thought the Death Eaters had come back to avenge the Dark Lord's death but after realising that the two murky figures had been Draco's mother and father, they all sighed with relief. _

"_Draco, come," Narcissa pleased and Draco was suddenly puzzled by what was going on. "Draco?" _

"_Step away from the filthy Mudblood, Draco," Lucius roared, aiming his wand at her. Without even thinking, Harry and Ron pointed their wands back with hesitance. Lucius chuckled sadistically. "Relax Potter, I'm not here to hurt you. Just that Mudbloo friend of yours."_

"_Father what the fuck are you doing? You said you were alright with this?!" Draco shouted stepping in front of Hermione protectively. _

"_I don't care what I said. I'm banning you from ever being with that girl do you understand?"_

"_No!" Draco argued and Narcissa winced._

"_Draco, just leave with us, please," she begged but why would he?_

"_No mother, I love her. Don't you understand?" He was shaking, trembling. He knew he didn't want to say those words but he did anyway. He had to. To save Hermione, because he was in love with her. "I love her and you can't fucking do anything about that!" _

_Lucius was becoming agitated. His lips were quaking, itching to whisper the words that would hopefully get rid of the one thing he hated the most. But he said it. An accident because his lips were urging him to. He had hoped that it would hit _her_ but it hit _him_ instead. And even though he had been angry at him for being with her, he couldn't be angry anymore. It was his fault that his son had fallen to his knees, the colour of his eyes draining so quickly. Lucius had been the cause of his son's birth and also the cause of his death._

"_DRACO!" the screams of the girl that loved him with all her heart echoed throughout Hogwarts and beyond. She carried his dead weight into her arms, falling to her knees also as he pulled them both down to the rubble. "Draco?" she said, her voice was trembling with fear and it felt like the world shook with it. _

_She wanted so desperately to hear his voice slip out of the cracks of his lips. But the only response he gave her was a smile and then silent bitterness followed after. Hermione felt her chest tighten as every waking second passed, she didn't want to admit that he was gone. That all they had gone through together was for nothing. _

_And after the bitterness, anger slithered along. She felt it gnaw into her skin, bite into her veins and disintegrate into her bones…_

_And then she felt something in her stomach kick…_

* * *

"Mrs Granger?"

I sat still because the nurse and Uncle Theo were standing beside each other. She was staring out into the window like she couldn't take her eyes off it and I couldn't understand why she was crying.

"Mrs Granger."

She jerked her head around at the sound of her name and then she looked at me with confusion. I didn't know what to do because I wasn't sure what had happened to her.

"Draco?" she said.

And I shook my head and I said, "No. Mrs Granger it's me Scorpius." She shook her head so I nodded mine. "Scorpius Nott."

"Draco you're…you're alive?"

"No Mrs Granger, it's me Scorpius!" I shouted and then after that I couldn't understand what was happening because she was screaming and I was crying.

"Nurse, she's forgotten," Uncle Theo said and he tried to pull me away and I just couldn't understand why he was ripping me away from my mother.

"Draco? Where are you taking him?!" she started screeching and then lots of nurses stormed into the room and tried to hold her. I was scared. I was lost.

"No! Mrs Granger, it's me, Scorpius Malfoy!" I shouted and she stopped crying. "It's me, I'm your son! Mrs Granger!"

"Scorpius?" she shouted and I smiled because I knew she remembered who I was. Not that I was Uncle Theo's adopted son, her daily visitor, but that I was her son. And then I understood that she wasn't lying about the stories. Mr Malfoy was my dad and I was his son, and he had died trying to protect my mother from his cruel family. I understood then that love wasn't hurting the girl you liked to get her attention, it was sacrificing yourself to let everyone know how much you really loved that girl. Love was my dad. "Scorpius, I'm right here! What are you doing?" I saw her crying, her arms out like she wanted me to run. I couldn't. "Let me go! Scorpius! NO!"

"She remembers me! Uncle Theo, she knows who I am!" But he kept tugging me away from her and she became smaller as we distanced away. "UNCLE THEO PLEASE!"

And I heard one of the doctors go inside and one of the nurses said, "I think the boy told her who he is."

But I hadn't. I listened to my mother and she told me once before, that people are cruel. They will lie and manipulate to get what they want. I didn't know what the nurse wanted but she was cruel because she didn't want me and my mother to be together.

* * *

Sorry for any mistakes. I also want to dedicate this oneshot to a 12 year old boy from my school who killed himself a week ago after being bullied. He was a big fan of Harry Potter and although I wish I could've got to know him I didn't. And I feel awful that he was taken away at such a young age. It's been really hard to update Disclosure with his sudden and unexpected death and the many exams I have, along with the competitions too.

RIP Mason Goodwin, gone but never forgotten. Those bullies will get what's coming. At least you're somewhere better and safer.


End file.
